Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen () is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, , and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, . It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. Lady Charlotte Guest included this tale among those she collected under the title The Mabinogion.

Synopsis

Culhwch's father, King Cilydd son of Celyddon, loses his wife Goleuddydd after a difficult childbirth. When he remarries, the young Culhwch rejects his stepmother's attempt to pair him with his new stepsister. Offended, the new queen puts a curse on him so that he can marry no one besides the beautiful Olwen, daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden Pencawr. Though he has never seen her, Culhwch becomes infatuated with her, but his father warns him that he will never find her without the aid of his famous cousin Arthur. The young man immediately sets off to seek his kinsman. He finds him at his court in Celliwig in Cornwall.

250px|thumb|Culhwch at Ysbaddaden's court. An illustration by [[Ernest Wallcousins|E. Wallcousins in Celtic Myth & Legend, Charles Squire, 1920

"Horses shall I have, and chivalry; and my Lord and kinsman Arthur will obtain for me all these things. And I shall gain thy daughter, and thou shalt lose thy life."

"Go forward...and when thou hast compassed all these marvels, thou shalt have my daughter for thy wife."]]

Arthur agrees to lend help in whatever capacity Culhwch asks, save the lending of his sword Caledfwlch and other named armaments, or his wife. He sends not only six of his finest warriors (Cai, Bedwyr, Gwalchmei, Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd, Menw son of Tairgwaedd, Cynddylig Gyfarwydd), but a long list of personages of various skills (including Gwynn ap Nudd) recruited to join Culhwch in his search for Olwen. The group meets some relatives of Culhwch's that know Olwen and agree to arrange a meeting. Olwen is receptive to Culhwch's attraction, but she cannot marry him unless her father Ysbaddaden agrees, and he, unable to survive past his daughter's wedding, will not consent until Culhwch completes a series of about forty impossible-sounding tasks, including the obtaining of the basket/hamper of Gwyddneu Garanhir, the rescue of Mabon from his prison, and the hunt of Twrch Trwyth and Ysgithyrwyn. The completion of only a few of these tasks is recorded. In the end, the giant is killed, leaving Olwen free to marry her lover.

Scholarship

The prevailing view among scholars was that the present version of the text was composed by the 11th century, making it perhaps the earliest Arthurian tale and one of Wales' earliest extant prose texts, but a 2005 reassessment by linguist Simon Rodway dates it to the latter half of the 12th century. The title is a later invention and does not occur in early manuscripts.

The story is on one level a folktale, belonging to the bridal quest "the giant's daughter" tale type as well as in 17th-century poetic adaptations of that work. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey has argued that there are similarities between The Tale of Beren and Lúthien, one of the main cycles of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, and Culhwch and Olwen.

Adaptations

thumb|Questioning the Ouzel of Cilgwri in Culhwch and Olwen by [[Shirley Jones (artist)|Shirley Jones (2016)]]

British painter/poet David Jones (1895–1974) wrote a poem called "The Hunt" based on the tale of Culwhch ac Olwen. A fragment of a larger work, "The Hunt" takes place during the pursuit of the boar Twrch Trwyth by Arthur and the various war-bands of Celtic Britain and France.
In 1988, Gwyn Thomas released a retelling of the story, Culhwch ac Olwen, which was illustrated by Margaret Jones. Culhwch ac Olwen won the annual Tir na n-Og Award for Welsh language nonfiction in 1989.
Soviet animated film Quest for Olwen, adapted from the legend, was released in 1990, directed by Valery Ugarov.
A shadow play adaptation of Culhwch and Olwen toured schools in Ceredigion during 2003. The show was created by Jim Williams and was supported by Theatr Felinfach.
The tale of Culhwch and Olwen was adapted by Derek Webb in Welsh and English as a dramatic recreation for the reopening of Narberth Castle in Pembrokeshire in 2005.
The Ballad of Sir Dinadan (2003), the fifth book of Gerald Morris's The Squire's Tales series, features an adaptation of Culhwch's quest.
The Quest (2016) is an artist's book by Shirley Jones focusing on the quest, which is to find the whereabouts of the prisoner, Mabon, son of Modron, in Culhwch and Olwen.

Explanatory notes

References

Sources

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External links

<small>Contains extensive footnotes referring to the Welsh text. The original site no longer exists; this is the last Wayback Machine snapshot.</small>